Gardening for Amateurs 



263 



seen, and the work is better done ; but one 

 has to get accustomed to using it before 

 one can get the best out of it. 



Filling Blanks in the Rose Border. 

 When a Rose is found to be unsatisfactory 

 or has died out altogether it is a common 

 practice to dig it up and plant a new bush 

 in the same spot as soon as it arrives from the 

 nursery. The result is that a fresh vigorous 

 plant is placed in a more or less impoverished 

 soil which has been growing Rose bushes for 

 a long time ; should the blossom be dis- 

 appointing next season or if depreciation 

 shows within a very few years no one is to 

 blame but the gardener himself. Dig out a 

 hole at least two feet square and a foot deep ; 

 wheel this soil away to another border, and 

 bring back an equal amount of good earth 

 from that place ; fill up the hole to 7 or 8 

 inches with this fresh soil, plant the Rose in 

 the usual way, tramping the soil firm, and 

 tlicn the full benefits of a refreshed site are 

 given to the bush. Healthy conditions at the 

 root are the very essence of success ; shallow 



dug soil is highly conducive to weak growths 

 and mildew, and the new areas to be put 

 under Roses should first of all be thoroughly 

 trenched. Roses apt to produce strong 

 rampant growth, where flowers are desired, 

 will benefit by being lifted and having the 

 strong roots cut back ; plant again and have 

 the bush surrounded by fresh compost to 

 encourage root formation in winter and an 

 invigorated bush next spring. 



Thinning Bushy Roses. One often sees 

 fine bushy plants in gardens with innumerable 

 small but leafy shoots in the centre, crowded 

 into a tangled mass. These branches are in- 

 variably weak and useless, seldom if ever 

 bearing flowers, yet offering an excellent 

 shelter for pests of all descriptions. Thin 

 them out as early as possible, and the bushes 

 will benefit from the work ; keep the centres 

 clear and open, and the branches will be 

 hardy and strong. This thinning process 

 ensures better blooms, too, and is really 

 advisable even where exhibition flowers are 

 not desired by the grower. 



Blossoms of climbing Rose Trier, a variety that flowers throughout the summer. 



